Former Humboldt Creamery CEO pleads guilty to lying about cooperative’s financial problems

Ex-Humboldt Creamery CEO pleads guilty to fraud

SAN FRANCISCO — Humboldt Creamery’s former CEO has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of making false statements about financial problems that bankrupted the former farmer cooperative.

Rich Ghilarducci entered his plea Wednesday in San Francisco federal court in a deal with prosecutors.

Ghilarducci admitted to falsifying the creamery’s financial statements from 2005 to 2008, implying it had millions more cash on hand than it did.

He resigned abruptly in February 2009, leaving dairy operators unpaid for their milk and local businesses in a financial lurch. The creamery has since been sold to Foster Farms Dairy.

Prosecutors suggest a prison term of four or five years when Ghilarducci is sentenced Oct. 6. The judge also could order him to pay restitution of $7 million to investors.

Information from: Times-Standard, www.times-standard.com